The Dangers of Chlorine & Issues With Sucralose

Sucralose is an artificial sweetener commonly known as Splenda. Sucralose is a chlorocarbon compound that is made of real sugar and chlorine. Companies use it for sweetening diet drinks, diet cookies, diet ice cream and other diet foods. Recent research has shown the dangers of the chlorine contained in sucralose on animals, humans and the environment.

Dangers Found In Animal Testing

• Researchers tested Splenda on mice, rats and rabbits. The sucralose affected many areas of the animals' bodies, including the animal's thymus glands, which shrunk by up to 40 percent. All of the animals experienced diarrhea. They developed enlarged livers and kidneys and a distinct decrease in the amount of red blood cells. Female rats experienced aborted pregnancies along with decreased fetal size.

Toxicity And Health Issues

• In some cases, sucralose causes sucralose toxicity or a sucralose allergy. Some of the symptoms of this problem are skin irritations, rashes, bloating, nausea, diarrhea, runny nose, breathing difficulties, wheezing, anxiety, depression, mood swings, chest muscle pain and palpitations. Some of the effects are life threatening like enlarged liver and kidneys. A study at Duke University found that Splenda causes health issues by reducing the good intestinal flora. This lets toxins and food particles get into the bloodstream causing health problems for the whole body. Some people think Splenda causes bladder control issues because of the buildup of sucralose in the bladder.

How Is Sucralose Metabolized

• Sucralose is metabolized by the body. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration report states that 11 to 27 percent of the sucralose consumed is absorbed by the body, and the rest goes out unchanged in the feces. The Japanese Food Sanitation Council reported that 40 percent is absorbed after consumption. Either way, somewhere between 11 to 40 percent of the sucralose absorbs in the body. This gives your body a hefty dose of chlorine absorption, and the researches seem confused about what amount of chlorine is safe.

Effects on the Environment

• Once sucralose is excreted, it enters the environment. Going by the FDA and the Japanese council's information, somewhere between 60 to 89 percent of the sucralose is excreted. The feces goes into the sewer system, and eventually re-enters the environment. Plants absorb the water containing sucralose, fish and small animals eat the plants containing sucralose and other animals eat the fish and small animals. The whole food chain absorbs it in this manner, and humans eat more sucralose from the plants and animals that absorbed it.